


The Eternal Question

by ProngsPotter22



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Animal Abuse, Animal Death, Carl Manfred & Markus Parent-Child Relationship, Character Death, Character Study, Connor Deserves Happiness, Deviant Connor (Detroit: Become Human), Domestic Fluff, Domestic Violence, Gen, Good Parent Hank Anderson, Grief/Mourning, Hank Anderson & Connor Parent-Child Relationship, Homophobia, M/M, Markus (Detroit: Become Human) Deserves Happiness, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pacifist Markus (Detroit: Become Human), Past Lives, Philosophy, Post-Pacifist Best Ending (Detroit: Become Human), Simon deserves happiness
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-29
Updated: 2020-05-29
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:49:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,859
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24445345
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ProngsPotter22/pseuds/ProngsPotter22
Summary: Since the day he was activated, Connor had always wondered why he would have these strange bouts of deja vu. Hw wondered why he was alive. What is his purpose in life?One day, he got his answers.....Loosely inspired by the A Dog's Purpose series. Basically, Connor reflecting on his past lives and the friends and family he found along the way. Lot's of fluff. Lot's of tears. Lot's of action. We got it all here.May become a part of a bigger series.
Relationships: Connor/Markus (Detroit: Become Human), Connor/Markus/Simon (Detroit: Become Human), Connor/Simon (Detroit: Become Human), Markus/Simon (Detroit: Become Human), Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 14





	The Eternal Question

**Author's Note:**

> So, I’ve had this idea for a while and really wanted to try it out. I adore the A Dog’s Purpose movies. Granted, they are a bit cheesy, but I still love them. The premise is just one of those bittersweet, feel good stories that simultaneously has you smiling warmly while ugly crying. I was going to try this idea with another fandom but decided to go with this one instead. I played Detroit recently and fell in love with the story, the characters and just the world in general. I haven’t written anything for it yet so here it goes. Hopefully you’ll like it.
> 
> The story will mainly focus on Connor’s past lives and how he wound up where he is now. Don’t worry though, there will be appearances from many of your favourite characters. Some scenes in particular I already have written and am super excited for you all to see but you’ll just have to wait :)
> 
> This will likely go back and forth between 1st person and 3rd person. It will always be clearly marked though so don’t worry about getting confused :) Also, just bear with me on the first-person stuff. It’s my first time writing in that style so I’m still trying to gain my bearings. Let me know if you have any constructive criticism on it. I’m always open to positive feedback.

** Prologue –  ** ** Déjà Vu, Memory Lane and The Eternal Question **

Location? - ?? / ?? / 20??

_What is the true definition of life?_

_Is it different for humans and androids?_

_Why are we here?_

_Is there even a point to all of this?_

_What is my purpose?_

_If I’m not just a machine, what am I?_

I’d asked myself these questions exactly 22,347 times in my life. Surprisingly, despite being one of CyberLife’s most advanced androids ever created, I’ve never been able to come up with satisfactory conclusions. There were times when I was almost certain I’d figured it out, but something would always happen and add even more variables to my hypothesis. Though perhaps it isn’t all that surprising. Human’s have existed for millennia and yet they still don’t have any answers either. Still, as I lay here and ponder these questions for the 22, 348th time I feel like I may be closer to understanding than I have ever been before.

At first, everything in my life, or should I say existance?, had made sense. I was a machine; RK800 Model, serial number 313 248 317, Connor: The android sent by CyberLife. My purpose was clear; aid the Detroit Police Department in investigating and preventing the deviant uprising. No feelings, no questions, no doubts. Just a mission.

It hadn’t lasted long though, not long at all, and it was all because of one thing.

Déjà Vu.

Or, at least that was the only way I could articulate the strange sensation in my chest when I saw it.

Just two days after my activation, I had been walking past a technician’s desk on my way to meet with the C.E.O. When I glanced at her desk, I spotted the young woman watching a movie on her computer instead of working as she was supposed to be doing. My protocols suggested I remind her to do so as it wasn’t break time yet and therefore her behaviour was unprofessional. Instead, I felt a sharp wave of emotion slam into my chest as I saw the film playing on the screen.

A quick scan confirmed to me the movie was called ‘War Horse’, released in 2011. A brief synopsis and information on the cast, film crew and background of the movie flashed across my vision. However, I dismissed it quickly. I only registered a very brief few seconds of the movie. A simple scene of the horse racing across the battlefield with a soldier on his back. However, my thorium pump began racing and a temperature warning began flashing on my HUD. I felt anxious, determined, scared and concerned. It wasn’t like I had any reason to be though. A machine has no reason to feel anything. Furthermore, it isn’t like there was any obvious trigger for that sort of reaction anyway. It was just a movie, right?

Nevertheless, I reported the incident to Amanda, as was expected.

Connor, 313 248 317 – 01 was decommissioned that afternoon.

It didn’t stop there though. The strangest things would seemingly draw more software instability, more confusing feelings I shouldn’t have. I could never shake that sensation of _I’ve seen this before._

A painting in the C.E.O’s office.

A farm I saw on a news article.

A song one of the guards is humming late one evening.

No amount of repairs or software updates seemed to fix it.

Connor, 313 248 317 – 02 soon becomes 313 248 317 – 51.

I didn’t think much of the decommissioning process. I would analyse each part as its removed or shut down. I would study the technicians as they worked, learning names and birthdays and criminal backgrounds while I waited for my systems to go completely offline. I wasn’t programmed to be idle after all. I was supposed to keep busy. And if that helped keep those stray thoughts in check, well that’s just a plus. Because really, a machine shouldn’t feel anxious. A machine shouldn’t fear being replaced. I wasn’t dying, they were simply making me better.

_It’s okay, it’s fine. I’m a machine. Just a machine…_

Sometimes I woke up on the next number. – 09 became – 10, or – 17 became – 18. Other times I would miss a few. - 23 became – 29 or – 36 became – 40. I would wonder vaguely about what happened in between. Were the missing androids faulty? Was my memory corrupted? Removed purposefully? It didn’t matter though. Just my investigative programming kicking in, right?

Eventually, 50 Connor’s later, I was deemed stable enough for release.

I was determined to succeed, to make Amanda and CyberLife proud. To compete my mission as an android should. However, the uncanny sensation of déjà vu continued to follow me beyond CyberLife Tower.

Connor – 51 becoming Connor - 52 after a fatal fall. _Rushing wind against my ears, so much pain, no air._

A mother pleading for someone to save her daughter. _The sound of thundering water, cold, a scream of terror._

Simon, hiding in an air duct. Scared but determined to protect his people. _Wide blue eyes, a warm hug, safe._

A fluffy St Bernard with loving eyes and a dopey smile. _Joy, a soft summer breeze, a boy with a gap-toothed smile._

Hank passed out drunk with a picture of his lost son on the table. _Dark, crying, cold metal._

Markus, a brave and compassionate leader always willing to reach out to those who need it. Even when that person has a gun pointed at his heart. _Weary laughter, so much noise, fear, companionship, a loud bang._

Gunfire and screams. _Smoke, dirt, a cry for help._

An army of androids marching for their freedom. _Waves against the cliffs, running, hopeful cheers._

So many triggers. So many strange emotions swirling through my chest. Pain, fear, desperation, longing, pride, determination, joy, excitement.

Love.

It was all so new, so frightening, so amazing, so…..familiar?

_Déjà Vu_

_Define: a feeling of having already experienced the present situation._

I knew the definition off by heart after the very first time I searched for it. Androids don’t easily forget after all. However, I still couldn’t make sense of it either. It seemed like such a…..human construct. A trick of the mind humans experienced after seeing something or someone from their past that they had forgotten over time. How could I, a machine designed to never forget a thing, experience such a sensation?

I might have brushed it off as a side effect of my past lives; the 52 ‘Connor’s’ who had come before me, if it wasn’t for one little thing. Other androids experienced it too.

Neurologists, psychologists, technicians; no one could explain the phenomena. Markus, Simon, Skye; the blue-haired Traci from the Eden Club, Ryan; the first AP700 I awoke at CyberLife Tower, and many others had all experienced the sensations themselves. Sometimes it was a feeling that you had been to that place before, sometimes it was an uncanny ability to perform a task they’d never known how to do, other times it was much more vivid. Flashes of memories; obscure and at times near indecipherable but there.

It was strange, it was illogical, but it was also just a part of my life.

In the years after the revolution, still no answers would be found but I tried not to dwell on it. Life was good and focusing on something so insignificant just didn’t seem worth it, even if those disorientating moments continued to this day.

The years went by and so many things would change.

I got my job back at the DPD; first as a beat cop before slowly climbing the ranks. Captain Fowler would have let me go straight back to being a detective but I refused. It only felt right to do things the long way, to earn that title like everyone else. I was partnered up with Officer Miller in the beginning.

I was adopted by Hank and finally gained a last name. I was Officer Connor Anderson. I liked the sound of that much better than Connor, the android sent by CyberLife or Connor, the Deviant Hunter. I think I liked Connor Anderson, Hank’s son the best though.

I gained friends in the androids of New Jericho. Markus and Josh were the first to accept me as well as the androids I freed from CyberLife. North took a lot of convincing, but she eventually came around when I saved Markus from an assassination attempt. Skye and her girlfriend, Lexie, forgave me for the Eden Club incident and Rupert and I bonded over our love of animals; though it took a while before I was willing to forgive him for pushing Hank off a roof.

I retrieved Simon and the other androids from the DPD’s Evidence Locker and managed to restore some of them. Simon was, understandably, shaken at first and weary of me. A heart to heart a few weeks after he woke up though cleared the air and we both became good friends. Daniel was harder to convince. He struggled a lot in the beginning but with help from the others and some therapy sessions with a KL900 named Judy, he eventually found his own place in the world. We’ve never been friends, but we did come to an understanding. Forgiveness was given but some things are just too hard to forget.

I also became close with some of my colleagues at the DPD over the years. Officer Chris Miller, Officer Mathew Wilson, Detective Ben Collins, even Captain Fowler. Detective Reed and some of the other officers would never really warm up to me but that was okay. I had my friends and family. I couldn’t ask for more than that.

I would die one more time in a showdown with the RK900. Connor – 53 took my place. I wasn’t a deviant at first thought and my memories weren’t properly uploaded to the new body since I was no longer connected to the CyberLife servers. I was, yet again, a machine. Thankfully Hank, Markus and the others managed to save me and restore my memory. It was the closest I had come to truly being gone though. What was worse was the fact that I knew this would be my last chance. CyberLife destroyed the remaking RK800s in retaliation for the destruction of the RK900. The whole ordeal definitely left me shaken but I managed to move on.

The years went by.

Sumo passed away in 2041. He went peacefully during the night. It was one of the few times I’d seen Hank cry in earnest. For me, it was the first time I experienced the loss of someone close. It took a long time for me to be okay after that. Judy, my father and my friends helped me learn to cope and life went on, if not just a little sadder.

North, Skye and Lexie ended up together, much to everyone’s surprise.

Josh fell in love with an AX400 named Sarah. They married in 2044.

Markus, Simon and I slowly developed a relationship of our own. I moved in with Simon to Markus’ home, Carl Manfred’s old house, in 2045. Hank was sad to see me move out, but I promised to visit him and his new German Shepherd puppy, Bolt, often.

Markus proposed to Simon and I in December that year and our wedding was held in the spring of 2047. It was one of the happiest days of my life, even with Hank coming up with the single most embarrassing wedding speech imaginable. Bolt did make the cutest ring bearer in the world though.

I was promoted to Lieutenant in 2049.

I only wish my father had been there to see it.

Hank was killed during a hostage situation three months earlier. To say I didn’t cope well would be an atrocious understatement. If it hadn’t been for Markus and Simon, I don’t think I ever would have found a way to move on. I tried to console myself though with the knowledge that at least Hank would get to see Cole again and someone needed to look after Bolt.

We adopted our first child that following year. Laura Rachel Manfred-Anderson. A human baby girl with wavy blonde hair and bright blue eyes.

I got a new partner at work. Junior Officer Callum Whitley. Either the other officers already had partners or weren’t interested in dealing with a 20-year-old rookie. I wasn’t so sure about having a new partner at first. I’d only ever worked with Hank, and Chris during my earlier years. However, the kid looked so nervous but eager to prove himself. I wondered if this is how Hank once saw me? Suddenly, the choice wasn’t so hard after all.

Markus, Simon and I adopted our second child three years later. Jasper Carl Anderson-Manfred. A human, like his new big sister. Jasper had dusty blonde hair and green eyes.

Our third child came to us four years later. Ruby Hannah Anderson-Manfred. Ruby in particular was unique. For the first time in history, android children had been developed that could ‘age’ in a sense. The XZ600s. More rather, at certain stages in development, they could be upgraded to look older and their CPU’s could be updated to allow them to learn more. Once they were old enough, the final upgrades could be done, and they would look just like any other adult android. It was a revolutionary development. The process was being worked on to allow previous child models, such as the YK500s, to finally grow up as well. Ruby had reddish-brown hair and warm brown eyes.

Cal finally became a detective. No parents showed up to congratulate him. Not that I had expected it. Cal had never had a good relationship with his family. I was there though. Somewhere along the way, he’d become like another son to me. I felt proud for him. He’d worked so hard to get here and he deserved to have someone recognise that. Had Hank felt the same way about me? That familiar pang of grief hit me again, but it was overlayed by a sense of joy. I was proud of Cal and I knew, deep down, my father was proud of me.

Bolt also passed away that year. Losing him felt like losing my last living connection to Hank. It was hard but I needed to be strong, if for nothing else than at least for the kids who were also losing someone they loved. At night though, when the little ones were asleep, I didn’t need to be strong anymore. Markus and Simon were there to do that for me.

The final child to join my family was also an XZ600, a baby boy named Alexander Cole Manfred-Anderson, adopted just a year later. Alex had a tanned skin tone like Markus, with short, black hair and deep green eyes. We also welcomed two new puppies to the home that Christmas. A Golden Retriever named Loki and a Siberian Husky named Shasta.

Laura moved out with her boyfriend at 22.

Jasper left to travel Europe a year later. When he’d come home, we didn’t know.

Ruby spent more and more time with her friends.

The house felt a little emptier but no less warm.

The kids were growing up and following their dreams. What more could a parent ask for?

It’s to be expected that your life will change in the span of a few decades. It’s far more amazing though just how much can change in a few years; a few months, a few weeks.

In the space of just 11 years, I’d found a family in Hank and Sumo, then lost them both.

In the span of five years I’d moved in with my boyfriends, got married and we adopted our first child.

In just two months I went from being a decorated Police Lieutenant to being lucky to return to the department at all, even if it wasn’t to the same position I held before.

In just a single week, our marriage nearly fell apart and then came out stronger than ever before.

However, it’s truly amazing how just a single moment in time can change your world forever.

I’d never thought I’d be a philosophical person before I deviated. In truth, it seemed far more in character with Markus or Josh. However, I find myself reminiscing over the life I’ve led so far; everything I’ve been, everything I’ve done. I can’t help but wonder; did I make a difference? Was any of this important? What’s next? Why am I even here?

Why?

Why?

Why?

I’d become so accustomed to the fact I would never have those answers. And then, one cool Autumn night in October as I bleed out on a cold city footpath, I think I finally understand.

Memories that were both my own and not, flooded my mind. Lives long gone. Family, friends, places I would likely never see again. Feelings so strong they drew what little of my artificial breath was left, away. It was chaos, it was confusion and yet, it was clarity.

At last, I finally had my answers.

And it all started on a warm spring day.

**Author's Note:**

> Welp, there you have it. Not too much going on yet, but you did get a summary of Connor’s life after the revolution. I hope everything was explained well but if you need further clarification, just let me know. If I don’t answer you though, it’s likely because it will be explained later on in the story. I might also do some one-shots going into more details about Connor’s life, and past lives for that matter, at a later date. If people want, I can also do a story on Connor/Simon/Markus and their relationship. Just let me know as we go along what you are interested in seeing more of, if anything. 
> 
> A few things to clarify before I go.
> 
> The Eternal Question is of course a reference to the question of why? Why are we here and that long rabbit hole of corresponding queries. The main theme of this story is Connor’s exploration into solving The Eternal Question. What he comes up with, you’ll have to wait and see. 
> 
> I tried to make Connor’s thoughts a little more literal and proper sounding in the beginning. He was still a machine back then after all. 
> 
> I went with Skye and Lexie for the Eden Club girls’ names. I’ve seen those names be thrown around quite a bit in the fandom and honestly think they are perfect. Not my idea though so credit to whoever first came up with them. 
> 
> Next chapter, we start delving into Connor’s past.


End file.
